[VandyMan]

@thinker Want to buy my 200 pcs Mickey Mouse puzzle? Has lots of parts on it, 200 if I'm correct.
5k €, PM if you're interested.

You're being a bit hard on the OP. He is entitled to his opinion, even though he is totally wrong. And, not many folks have taken the time to post pictures here, so I thank him for that.

Edit: grammer

 

[kevin gilmore]

Would love to hear the equalizer/compander as a stand alone component

 

[JimL11]

Well, it's an interesting concept from an interesting company - QUAD Musikwiedergabe started out as a distributor for Quad speakers and electronics, and I believe still builds a version of the original Quad electrostatic, so it has some audiophile credibility. Of course, loudness compensation has a somewhat checkered history, beginning with the loudness switch in many 50s - 70s amps. Later on, Yamaha had a variable loudness knob on their amplifiers.

The issue is that the equal loudness contours vary with the SPL level, so that for proper correction, you have to know the actual recorded SPL, versus the SPL at the listener's ears on playback, and then adjust the correction depending relative volume between the two, varying the correction as the level of the recording changes.

As an example, say that the recorded SPL is 10 dB louder than the playback. Then, a passage which was recorded at 80 dB would need to be adjusted by the difference between the 80 dB and 70 dB loudness contours to sound subjectively flat, whereas a passage recorded at 50 dB would need to be adjusted by the difference between the 50 dB and 40 dB loudness contours to reproduce the same subjective tonality at the quieter playback level - the point being that the difference between 80 and 70 dB equal loudness contours is NOT the same as the difference between 50 and 40 db equal loudness contours. Now, according to the Transdyn QA literature, they say that the difference between the concert hall and listening levels in "small rooms" is 8 dB, but that has got to be an average, and I would expect a fair variation from one listener to another. A different level would lead to different contours, so it doesn't seem to be an easy problem to solve with analog circuitry, although possibly you could do it with variable level dependent digital EQ.

 

[weasel1979]

I just found this (link) history of Stax products. It is great that they released the Omega in 1994 and den 007 in 1998. Two decades, and even though planars got closer, Stax TOTL cans are still on top / up there after 2 decades.
http://www.stax.co.jp/Export/History.html

 

[astrostar59]

forgot to say....actually there is something inside of Transdyn amp ,but look at Spritzers amp it's almost an empty box and he is asking 5600 USD for it

I only question is, for 5600 why the simpler PS, There is the better GR supply with 2 LV boards now. Only saying... Maybe an older build?

 

[georgep]

I only question is, for 5600 why the simpler PS, There is the better GR supply with 2 LV boards now. Only saying... Maybe an older build?

Whether there is a better supply than Spritzer's PSU is debatable as no one to my knowledge has A-B'd the two. And Spritzer has never opted for the separate LV supply. The real comical part though is that you could not cram the contents of Spritzer's amp with proper heatsinking into the chassis of the Quad transdym - it just would not fit - and the transdym does 20-some-odd other things to the signal instead of just amplifying it (which for some people seems to be a plus, for others not so much). If the OP thought that Spritzer's amp had a lot of open space, they should take a look at the interior of a Nelson Pass First Watt amp... That said, I have not heard the Transdym and likely never will.

 

[astrostar59]

Whether there is a better supply than Spritzer's PSU is debatable as no one to my knowledge has A-B'd the two. And Spritzer has never opted for the separate LV supply.

Dunno, but most of the Carbon builders seem to be going for the later board with the LV supply and big caps. I think that PS version would not fit into Spritzers mini chassis on his other amps. Anyway, regardless 5.6K does seem a bit toppy. May as well go 6.5K and get the BHSE with pro chassis. But whatever, I ain't paying 5.6K so not bothered.

 

[georgep]

I certainly would use the golden reference high voltage supply, which is by far the best one that is available, but in fairness Spritzer's psu is his own recipe and not available for DIY.

 

[JimL11]

I agree that the Golden Reference HV and LV supplies would be what I would use if I was going for state of the art. I don't want to speak for spritzer, but IIRC he has posted in the past that he thought the sonic difference between the original KGBH PS and the Golden Reference was relatively small, and he also has a fondness for building amps that don't take up much real estate - the Golden Reference PS don't fit into a small area.

 

[paradoxper]

Regardless his pricing is just too high.

 

[georgep]

Regardless his pricing is just too high.

That is something I won't get into as builders have a variety of reasons to charge what they charge. My original point was merely that there are still more "guts" in Spritzer's amp than the Quad, not the pricing or relative merits of other carbon builds.

 

[JimL11]

Regardless his pricing is just too high.

Apparently his parts costs are high, due to him living on an island without a lot of natural resources other than thermal energy - everything has to be shipped in, there are import taxes, etc. I imagine if HeadAmp were located in Iceland its prices would be significantly higher also.

 

[paradoxper]

Yes, his prices (for his location or building choices) are high. Not an inherent knock on his builds but rather a simple fact.

 

[wink]

Perhaps, Spritzer should relocate to the good ol' US of A........

 

[Whitigir]

Am I seeing some one who knows how to turn screws judging on some one else who is actually working and making Electro Stat Amps ? Face palm....